''The Loretta Young Show'' (originally known as ''Letter to Loretta'') is an American
anthology drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
broadcast on Sunday nights from September 2, 1953, to June 4, 1961, on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
for a total of 165 episodes. The series was hosted by actress
Loretta Young
Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...
, who also played the lead in various episodes.
Series overview
''The Loretta Young Show'' was sponsored by
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
for its first six seasons, from 1953 to 1959. After a dispute with her sponsor, Young found other sponsors to sustain her program: The Toni Company (1959-1961),
Philip Morris (1959-1960), and
Warner-Lambert's
Listerine
Listerine is an American brand of antiseptic mouthwash that is promoted with the slogan "Kills germs that cause bad breath", Named after Joseph Lister, who pioneered antiseptic surgery at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland, Listerine was ...
(1960-1961).
The program began with the premise that each drama was an answer to a question asked in her
fan mail
Fan mail is mail sent to a public figure, especially a celebrity, by their admirers or " fans". In return for a fan's support and admiration, public figures may send an autographed poster, photo, reply letter or note thanking their fans for th ...
; the program's original title was ''Letter to Loretta''. The title was changed to ''The Loretta Young Show'' during the first season (as of February 14, 1954), and the "letter" concept was dropped altogether at the end of the second season. At this time, Young's health, which had deteriorated due to a heavy production schedule during the second season, required a number of guest hosts and guest stars; her first appearance in the
1955–56 season was for the
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
show.
From this point on, Young appeared in only about half of each season's shows as an actress and merely functioned as the program hostess for the remainder. She became known for swirling around in her gowns during her entrance through a door at the start of the show, a convention parodied by many comedians, including
Ernie Kovacs
Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was a Hungarian-American comedian, actor, and writer.
Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years aft ...
.
Young was quoted as saying
After the audience had seen me well-groomed, I can wear horrible clothes, ugly make-up, or even a false nose during the show without anyone wondering whether I've aged overnight or something.
This program, minus Young's introductions and summarized conclusions (Young insisted on their deletion due to her concern that the dresses she wore in those segments would "date" the program), was rerun in daytime by NBC as ''The Loretta Young Theatre'' from October 1960 to December 1964, and then appeared, again without the introductions and conclusions, in
syndication
Syndication may refer to:
* Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system
* Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips
* Web syndication, ...
through the 1970s. In 1992, selected episodes of the original series (with Young's opening and closing segments intact), authorized by Young herself and chosen from her personal collection of 16 mm film prints, were released on home video, and eventually shown on cable television.
During the series' eight-year run, the series was popular with audiences and critics, and it finished in 28th place in the
Nielsen ratings in the spring of 1955. It finished its last season far behind its competition, ''
Candid Camera'' on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, and was thereby
cancelled. In 1954, ''Billboard'' voted it the third-best network filmed drama series.
Selected guest stars
*
Julie Adams
Julie Adams (born Betty May Adams; October 17, 1926 – February 3, 2019) was an American actress, billed as Julia Adams toward the beginning of her career, primarily known for her numerous television guest roles. She starred in a number of ...
*
John Agar
John George Agar Jr. (January 31, 1921 – April 7, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', '' Fort Apache'', and '' She Wore a Yellow Ribbon''. In h ...
*
Claude Akins
*
Rico Alaniz
*
Anna Maria Alberghetti
Anna Maria Alberghetti (; born May 15, 1936) is an Italian-American actress and soprano.
Biography
Born May 15, 1936, in Pesaro, Marche, in central Italy, she starred on Broadway and won a Tony Award in 1962 as Best Actress (Musical) for ''Ca ...
*
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...
*
Eleanor Audley
Eleanor Audley ( Zellman; November 19, 1905 – November 25, 1991) was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mother, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom ''Green Acres'' (1965–1969) ...
*
Jean-Pierre Aumont
Jean-Pierre Aumont (born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons; 5 January 1911 – 30 January 2001) was a French actor, and holder of the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre for his World War II military service.
Early life
Aumont was born Jea ...
*
Frances Bavier
Frances Elizabeth Bavier (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American stage and television actress. Originally from New York theatre, she worked in film and television from the 1950s until the 1970s. She is best known for her role o ...
*
Gene Barry
Gene Barry (born Eugene Klass, June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films '' The Atomic City'' (1952) and ''The War of The Worl ...
*
Hugh Beaumont
Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 – May 14, 1982) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series '' Leave It to Beaver'', originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963; and as private detec ...
*
Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley (born Barbara Lillian Combes; December 22, 1915 – October 16, 2010) was an American actress. She began her career with uncredited roles in ''Three Guys Named Mike'' (1951), '' The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952), and '' Inv ...
*
Charles Bronson
*
Argentina Brunetti
Argentina Brunetti (born Argentina Ferraù; August 31, 1907 – December 20, 2005) was an Argentinian stage and film actress and writer.
Biography
Brunetti was born Argentina Ferraù in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Italian parents; her moth ...
*
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...
*
Richard Carlson
*
Mae Clark
Mae Clarke (born Violet Mary Klotz; August 16, 1910 – April 29, 1992) was an American actress. She is widely remembered for playing Henry Frankenstein's bride Elizabeth, who is chased by Boris Karloff in ''Frankenstein'', and for being o ...
*
Mike Connors
Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series ''Mannix'' from 1967 to 1975, a role which earne ...
*
Chuck Connors
Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...
*
Jackie Coogan
*
Johnny Crawford
John Ernest Crawford (March 26, 1946 – April 29, 2021) was an American actor, singer, and musician. He first performed before a national audience as a Mouseketeer. At age 12, Crawford rose to prominence playing Mark McCain in the series ' ...
*
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer.
Early life
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...
*
Pat Crowley
Patricia Crowley (born September 17, 1933) is an American actress. She was also frequently billed as Pat Crowley.
Early life
Crowley was born in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Helen (''née'' Swartz) and coal mining foreman Vincent Cr ...
*
Jane Darwell
Jane Darwell (born Patti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her p ...
*
Laraine Day
Laraine Day (born La Raine Johnson, October 13, 1920 – November 10, 2007) was an American actress, radio and television commentator, and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract star. As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film sta ...
*
Elinor Donahue
Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is an American actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the 1950s American sitcom ''Father Knows Best''.
Early ...
*
Bobby Driscoll
Robert Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 – March 30, 1968) was an American actor known for his film and television performances from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pictures of that period ...
*
Joanne Dru
Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbo ...
*
James Drury
James Child Drury Jr. (April 18, 1934 – April 6, 2020) was an American actor. He is best known for having played the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series '' The Virginian'', which was broadcast on NBC from 1962 to ...
*
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...
*
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom ...
*
Steve Forrest
*
Nina Foch
Nina Foch ( ; born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008) was a Dutch-born American actress who later became an instructor. Her career spanned six decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television appea ...
*
William Frawley
William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy ser ...
*
Kathleen Freeman
Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1923August 23, 2001) was an American actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed acerbic maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors and relatives, almost in ...
*
Alan Hale Jr.
Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role ...
*
Barbara Hale
Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017) was an American actress who portrayed legal secretary Della Street in the dramatic television series '' Perry Mason'' (1957–1966), earning her a 1959 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting A ...
*
Darryl Hickman
Darryl Gerard Hickman (born July 28, 1931) is an American former actor, screenwriter, television executive, and acting coach. He started his career as a child actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood and appeared in numerous TV serials as an adult. ...
*
Dwayne Hickman
Dwayne Bernard Hickman (May 18, 1934 – January 9, 2022) was an American actor and television executive, producer and director, who worked as an executive at CBS and had also briefly recorded as a vocalist. Hickman portrayed Chuck MacDonald, B ...
*
Dennis Hopper
*
Clegg Hoyt
*
Dean Jagger
Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an American film, stage, and television actor who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Henry King's ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949).
Early life
Dean Jeffrie ...
*
Vivi Janiss
Vivi may refer to:
People
* Vivi Bach (1939–2013), Danish actress and singer
* Vivi Fernandez (born 1977), Brazilian model
* Vivi Flindt (born 1943), Danish ballerina
* Vivi Friedman (1967–2012), Finnish film director
* Vivi Gioi (1917–1975 ...
*
Van Johnson
Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.
Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...
*
Phyllis Kirk
Phyllis Kirk (born Phyllis Kirkgaard; September 18, 1927 October 19, 2006) was an American actress.
Early life
Kirk was born in Syracuse, New York, although some sources state her birthplace as Plainfield, New Jersey. She contracted polio as ...
*
Tommy Kirk
Thomas Lee Kirk (December 10, 1941 – September 28, 2021) was an American actor, best known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as '' Old Yeller'', '' The Shaggy Dog'', ''Swiss Family Robinson'', '' The Absent-Minded ...
*
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomina ...
*
Anna Lee
Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was a British actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell".
Early life
Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham, (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, th ...
*
Viveca Lindfors
Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress.
Biography
Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the d ...
*
Jack Lord
John Joseph Patrick Ryan (December 30, 1920 – January 21, 1998), best known by his stage name, Jack Lord, was an American television, film and Broadway actor, director and producer. He starred as Steve McGarrett in the CBS television progra ...
*
Marjorie Lord
Marjorie Lord (née Wollenberg; July 26, 1918 – November 28, 2015) was an American television and film actress. She played Kathy "Clancy" O'Hara Williams, opposite Danny Thomas's character on ''The Danny Thomas Show'' (also known as ''Make ...
*
Anita Louise
*
Frank Lovejoy
Frank Andrew Lovejoy Jr. (March 28, 1912 – October 2, 1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the film noir '' The Hitch-Hiker'' and for starring in the radio drama '' Night Beat ...
*
Sue Lyon
*
George Macready
George Peabody Macready Jr. (August 29, 1899 – July 2, 1973) was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.
Early life
Macready was born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 29, 1899. He graduated ...
*
Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone (born Mary Dorothy Maloney; January 29, 1924 – January 19, 2018) was an American actress.
Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years, she played small roles, mainly in B-movies, with the exception of a supporting role ...
*
Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...
*
Mercedes McCambridge
Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge (March 16, 1916 – March 2, 2004) was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress." She won an Academy Award for Best Support ...
*
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theatre.Obituary '' Variety'', February 22, 1984. ...
*
Gary Merrill
Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starr ...
*
Roger Mobley
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
*
Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a var ...
*
Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery (April 15, 1932 – May 18, 1995) was an American actress whose career spanned five decades in film, stage, and television. She is best remembered for her leading role as the witch Samantha Stephens on the televisi ...
*
Bill Mumy
Charles William Mumy Jr. (; born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, writer, and musician and a figure in the science-fiction community/comic book fandom. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor, which included television appeara ...
*
Burt Mustin
*
Alan Napier
Alan William Napier-Clavering (7 January 1903 – 8 August 1988), better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later, in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered for ...
*
Maidie Norman
Maidie Ruth Norman (October 16, 1912 – May 2, 1998) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actress as well as an instructor in African-American literature and theater.
Early life
Norman was born Maidie Ruth Gamble on a plantat ...
*
Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' (1955–1 ...
*
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...
*
Edward Platt
Edward Cuthbert Platt (February 14, 1916 – March 19, 1974) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the Chief in the 1965–70 NBC/ CBS television series: ''Get Smart''. With his deep voice and mature appearance, he played an ...
*
Marion Ross
Marion Ross (born Marian Ellen Ross; October 25, 1928) is a American former actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom '' Happy Days'', on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and for which she recei ...
*
Rosalind Russell
Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...
*
Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, known for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967).
Early life and career
Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, 1900, in Manhatta ...
*
William Schallert
William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on '' Richard Diamond, Privat ...
*
Max Showalter
Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...
*
Lois Smith
Lois Arlene Smith (née Humbert; born November 3, 1930) is an American character actress whose career spans eight decades. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film ''East of Eden (film), East of Eden'', and later played supporting roles i ...
*
Barbara Stanwyck
*
Jan Sterling
Jan Sterling (born Jane Sterling Adriance; April 3, 1921 – March 26, 2004) was an American film, television and stage actress. At her most active in films during the 1950s (immediately prior to which she had joined the Actors Studio), Sterling ...
*
Robert Sterling
Robert Sterling (born William Sterling Hart; November 13, 1917 – May 30, 2006) was an American actor. He was best known for starring in the television series '' Topper'' (1953–1955).
In 1960, Sterling was honored with a star on the Hollywoo ...
*
Hope Summers
Sarah Hope Summers (June 7, 1902 – June 22, 1979) was an American character actress known for her work on CBS's ''The Andy Griffith Show'' and ''Mayberry RFD'', portraying Clara Edwards.
Early life
Hope Summers was born in Mattoon, Illino ...
*
Phyllis Thaxter
Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012) was an American actress. She is best known for portraying Ellen Lawson in ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944) and Martha Kent in ''Superman'' (1978). She also appeared in ''Bewi ...
*
Marshall Thompson
James Marshall Thompson (November 27, 1925 – May 18, 1992) was an American film and television actor.
Early years
Thompson was born in Peoria, Illinois. He and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Laurence B. Thompson, moved to California when he was a ...
*
Mary Treen
Mary Treen (born Mary Louise Summers, March 27, 1907 – July 20, 1989) was an American film and television actress. A minor actress for much of her career, she managed to secure a plain, unassuming niche for herself in the Hollywood of the 1 ...
*
Teresa Wright
Muriel Teresa Wright (October 27, 1918 – March 6, 2005) was an American actress. She was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: in 1941 for her debut work in '' The Little Foxes'', and in 1942 for '' Mrs. Miniver' ...
Ratings and time slots
Accolades
In 1959, the series won a
Golden Globe Award for Best TV Show. Loretta Young earned three Best Actress
Primetime Emmy Awards in 1955, 1957 and 1959.
Norbert Brodine
Nobert Brodine (December 16, 1896 – February 28, 1970), also credited as Norbert F. Brodin and Norbert Brodin, was a film cinematographer. The Saint Joseph, Missouri-born cameraman worked on over 100 films in his career before retiring from fi ...
claimed an Emmy for Best Cinematography in 1957. Young also earned Emmy nominations in 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960 and 1961, while Brodine was nominated in 1955, 1956 and 1958 as well. Other Emmy nominations were for Best New Program in 1954, Best Dramatic Series – Less Than One Hour in 1959, Best Direction for
Robert Florey
Robert Florey (14 September 1900 – 16 May 1979) was a French-American director, screenwriter, film journalist and actor.
Born as Robert Fuchs in Paris, he became an orphan at an early age and was then raised in Switzerland. In 1920 he worked a ...
in 1955, Best Teleplay Writing – Half Hour or Less for Richard Morris in 1957 and Best Art Direction in a Television Film for Frank Paul Sylos in 1959.
The
Directors Guild of America
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...
nominated Robert Florey in 1955 and
Norman Foster
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Nor ...
in 1957 for their work on the series.
Reboot
''The New Loretta Young Show'' ran for one season on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
from September 24, 1962, to March 18, 1963, under the alternating sponsorship of
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...
and The Toni Company. The show was an episodic comedy/drama, with Young playing the role of Christine Massey, a widow raising seven children in suburban Connecticut. Her romantic interest was Paul Belzer; the two characters were married in the 26th and final episode. Running against the popular series ''
Ben Casey
''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaff ...
'', the ''New Loretta Young Show'' received poor ratings and was not renewed for a second season.
Young introduced and closed each episode as herself, as she had done with ''The Loretta Young Show''. Episodes of ''The New Loretta Young Show'' are sometimes included in certain syndicated packages of ''The Loretta Young Show'', with the new series title removed and the original ''Loretta Young Show'' theme and titles added.
Lyl Productions (Young's company) had a contract dispute and court case with
Portland Mason. Aged 13, she was cast as Marnie, then dismissed before the pilot episode was shot. Upset by producers rejecting her wardrobe, which she was contractually required to supply, her mother sent her home to eat lunch and recompose herself. Meanwhile, Lyl decided if she was not back by that afternoon, Celia Kaye would play Marnie. Nobody told the Masons and Portland returned late. After Kaye replaced her, the Masons and Lyl sued each other for breach of contract; the court ruled in favor of the former.
Cast
*Loretta Young as Christine Massey
*
James Philbrook
James Philbrook was an American actor who appeared in several major films, including ''I Want to Live!'' (1958), ''Woman Obsessed'' and as Colonel Tall in the 1964 war picture '' The Thin Red Line''. He had supporting roles on television, includi ...
as Paul Belzer
*
Dack Rambo
Norman Jay Rambo (November 13, 1941 – March 21, 1994), professionally known as Dack Rambo, was an American actor, widely known for his role as Walter Brennan's grandson Jeff in the series ''The Guns of Will Sonnett'', as Steve Jacobi in the ...
as Peter Massey
*
Dirk Rambo
Norman Jay Rambo (November 13, 1941 – March 21, 1994), professionally known as Dack Rambo, was an American actor, widely known for his role as Walter Brennan's grandson Jeff in the series ''The Guns of Will Sonnett'', as Steve Jacobi in the ...
as Paul Massey
*
Cindy Carol as Binkie Massey
*
Sandy Descher
Sandra Kay Descher (born November 30, 1945) is an American former child actress of the 1950s.
Life and career
Born November 30, 1945, in Burbank, California, Descher is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Descher. She has a younger brother, Michae ...
as Judy Massey
*
Tracy Stratford as Maria Massey
*
Beverly Washburn
Beverly Washburn (born November 25, 1943) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the Walt Disney drama ''Old Yeller'' (1957) and the American General Pictures horror '' Spider Baby'' (1967).
Early years
Washburn was born in L ...
as Vickie Massey
*
Celia Kaye
Celia Kaye (born Celia Kay Burkholder; February 24, 1942) is an American actress. She is most famous for her starring role in the 1964 film adaptation of ''Island of the Blue Dolphins'' which won her a Golden Globe award.
Early life
Kaye is o ...
as Marnie Massey
Further reading
"Tuning in to Women in Television" (National Women's History Museum)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loretta Young Show
1953 American television series debuts
1961 American television series endings
1962 American television series debuts
1963 American television series endings
1950s American anthology television series
1960s American anthology television series
1950s American drama television series
1960s American drama television series
Black-and-white American television shows
English-language television shows
NBC original programming
Television series about widowhood
Television shows set in Connecticut